Bertozzi & Casoni is an artistic duo founded in 1980 in Imola by Giampaolo Bertozzi (Borgo Tossignano, Bologna, 1957) and Stefano Dal Monte Casoni (Lugo di Romagna, Ravenna, 1961 – Imola, Bologna, 2023). Both trained within the Faenza ceramic tradition, the two artists chose this medium as their primary field of expression—one often relegated to the margins of the contemporary art scene—successfully restoring its full dignity and bringing ceramic sculpture into major international art circuits.
Driven by continuous experimentation, both technical and formal, they have developed over the years an original and recognizable perspective on contemporary society. Their works exist in a constant balance between irony and critique of consumerism, doubt and hyperrealism, splendor and reflection on decay.
Throughout their long and prolific creative activity, they evolved from the playful and ironic small-scale sculptures of the early 1980s to an interest—always approached with a sense of humor—in the forms of design. This was fostered through their collaboration with the Cooperativa Ceramica di Imola (1985–1989) and their connections with the Milanese design environment. Already in their early phase, they showed a strong inclination toward large-scale works, which would later become a defining feature of their mature practice. Notable works from this period include the wheeled sculpture Re (1988–1990), Dormigliona (1991), and the architectural-scale panel Ditelo coi fiori (1990–1994) created for the Imola Civil Hospital.
During the 1990s, their work expanded significantly, both conceptually and in scale, as well as in the technical challenges underlying their creations. Works such as Bosco sacro (1993), Evergreen (1995), and Scegli il Paradiso (1997) were produced in this period. The latter marks the end of an initial phase characterized by the use of painted maiolica, which would be definitively replaced by industrial materials and techniques such as photoceramics. This shift resulted in a cooling of their expressive language and a striking adherence to reality, favoring a process of objectification of the artwork.
From the early 2000s onward, the themes and languages that define Bertozzi & Casoni became firmly established, giving rise to what the artists themselves described as “contemplations of the present.” Their reflection on human transience, ephemerality, and the fragility of existence is expressed in large-scale installations such as Madonna scheletrita (2003 and 2008) and Riflessione sulla morte (2008); in accumulations of bones (ironically titled Meravigliosso or Ossobello); and in their vanitas series, featuring baskets filled with waste traversed by snails, cleared tables, trays with leftover food, and patches of grass containing macabre remnants.
Trash, decay, and the products and waste of contemporary consumer society—including artistic and cultural ones—fascinate the duo, who often present them alongside animals rather than humans. These irreverent survivors act as witnesses to our society and carriers of hope. Examples include Composizione n.1 (2001), in which a stork and its nest rest atop a tall pile of used batteries, and Composizione in bianco (2005–2007), featuring the powerful figure of a polar bear advancing while dragging an accumulation of waste.
Their formal language is hypertrophic and splendid, marked by extraordinary mimetic skill and unexpected, destabilizing juxtapositions. Wonder and amazement guide the viewer in this “contemplation of the present,” prompting deeper reflection.
Within this framework also fall the monumental works exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and 2011, as well as their final demanding work, La morte dell’eros (2000–2023), left unfinished by Stefano Dal Monte Casoni and completed by Giampaolo Bertozzi.
The duo has exhibited extensively in prestigious venues. In 2004, they were invited to exhibit at Tate Liverpool and at the 14th Rome Quadriennale. In 2007, they held a solo exhibition at Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice (presenting three large works alongside the Biennale), followed in 2008 by exhibitions at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza. In 2009, their works were shown in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale; in 2010 at All Visual Arts in London, Sperone Westwater in New York, Galleria Sperone in Sent, and the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro in Milan.
Subsequent exhibitions include, among many others: the Venice Biennale (2011), La Maison Rouge in Paris, Robilant+Voena in London, Museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague, Palazzo Te in Mantua, MAMbo in Bologna, Expo Milano 2015, Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Palermo, and numerous international galleries and institutions across Europe, the United States, and Asia.
More recent highlights include exhibitions in 2023 at Carlocinque Gallery in Milan, Villa Firenze Contemporanea at the Italian Embassy in Washington, and the large-scale exhibition Tranche de vie across three museum venues in Imola. In 2024, a solo exhibition was held at the Labirinto della Masone in Fontanellato (Parma), accompanied by a catalogue featuring seven unpublished stories by Tiziano Scarpa, published by Franco Maria Ricci. In 2025, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte hosted a solo exhibition within the Royal Apartments.
From 2017 to 2023, a large selection of works was exhibited at the Cavallerizza Ducale in Sassuolo. Since October 2023, following the inauguration of the exhibition In nuce, the Museo San Domenico in Imola has permanently displayed a significant body of their works, documenting their artistic production.